Newark to Amazon: We're the socially responsible choice for new headquarters

Job candidates stand in line outside of a processing tent outside the Amazon fulfillment center in Robbinsville, N.J., during a job fair, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2017. Amazon plans to make thousands of job offers on the spot at nearly a dozen U.S. warehouses. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)(Photo11: Julio Cortez, AP)

As Amazon draws closer to picking a home for its coveted second headquarters, New Jersey boosters are hoping the e-commerce giant sees Newark's bid as both a good move and a chance to be a good corporate citizen.

Picking Newark, despite its underdog status in the quest for HQ2, as Amazon is calling the project, would dramatically improve Amazon's social responsibility ranking on a list of America's "most just" companies, according to a recentreport.

Supporters of Newark's bid, including Mayor Ras Baraka and former Gov. Thomas Kean, hope that Amazon factors in the social impact it would have on Newark when making a decision.

"I believe it's in their best interest," Kean said Tuesday. "There are a lot of good cities on that list, but none where they'd make the impact they'd make on Newark."

Newark is one of 20 finalist cities in the running to be the second home of Seattle-based e-commerce giant Amazon. The company has pledged to bring 50,000 high-tech jobs to the city that wins its second headquarters and to spend $5 billion on construction of a state-of-the art corporate complex.

The social responsibility report, released Sept. 20 by JUST Capital, a nonprofit investment advisory group that publishes an annual ranking of America's most "just" corporations, states that Amazon could boost its current ranking from 55th to 9th if it uses social impact considerations to make its decision.

Greater needs, greater good

The report notes that the impact could be greatest in Newark because the needs are greater. According to JUST, Newark has the highest unemployment rate among people of color in any of the finalist cities, at 19.4 percent; a poverty rate of 29 percent, and median income of $33,000. By picking Newark and applying its existing socially responsible practices, Amazon "could have long-standing and far-reaching benefits," the report said.

The report "makes it clear that companies, such as Amazon, that prioritize corporate responsibility benefit by choosing Newark," Baraka said.

"When a corporation recognizes their role in transforming a city, that is not only good for their bottom line, but it sends a powerful message to their workforce and consumers who are committed to making a positive social, economic and human rights impact," he said in a statement.

Aisha Glover, president and chief executive of the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation, agreed that helping Newark would help Amazon. "I think that any corporation, especially larger corporations, in this day and age, if they're not considering social factors, it's a missed opportunity," she said.

'We want to lead'

Amazon on Tuesday demonstrated that it cares about its social responsibility reputation by announcing itwill raise the minimum wage paid to all its workers to $15 an hour. "We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do and decided we want to lead," Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said in revealing the news.

Amazon had drawn criticism from unions, worker groups and Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., for its treatment of warehouse employees.

Amazon already has a high ranking on the JUST list, 55th out of some 800 companies in all categories, and is the top-ranked retail company, but picking Newark would likely boost Amazon to the top ranks of all American companies, said Brian Trelstad, a partner in Bridges Fund Management, an investment fund that focuses on investments that benefit under-served communities, and other social and environmental goals.

Walkable city

Bridges conducted its own study of the possible impact of Amazon's headquarters choice and concluded that "the aggregate social and environmental benefit would be highest if they chose Newark," Trelstad said.

Newark gives Amazon "a dense, walkable" headquarters city with access to mass transportation and a chance to reuse existing buildings, as opposed to building on empty land in a more suburban location, Trelstad said. It also is a place where it could attract a diverse workforce.

"As technology firms struggle with diversity, Newark is one of the more diverse finalist cities" and can draw talent from Rutgers University-Newark and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, he said.

Story continues below video:

CLOSE

You can pretend to be a dog with Snapchat's fun filters, and soon enough, you’ll be able to get your paws on Amazon products with its camera. Buzz60's Sean Dowling has more.
Buzz60

'Shot in the arm'

"Newark's really poised right now to take off, but this would be the shot in the arm to bring it back immediately," Kean said. "This would transform it, and I think would make Amazon and Mr. Bezos a national hero," he said.

Amazon a year ago asked cities to submit proposals for the new headquarters site. They received over 200 bids and winnowed the list to 20 cities earlier this year, surprising many by picking Newark as a finalist. Bezos has said the decision will be announced by the end of the year.

Analysts, Amazon-watchers and even Las Vegas and sports-betting bookmakers are betting against Newark getting the win.

But Glover, of the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation, said those predictions don't factor in that Newark is part of the New York City metropolitan area, with the benefits of being close to New York and the advantage of lower costs.

Don't bet against us

"I am not a betting woman, but if I was, I would just go by the textbook definition of exactly what Amazon is looking for, and if you match that up line by line, the one that continuously comes out on top is the New York City metropolitan area," Glover said. "And then if you start to control for affordability and the cost of building and you bring in the social impact piece, hands down Newark beats New York City," she said.

Kean also cautioned not to count Newark out yet. The naysayers who predicted Newark would never to make it to the final 20 were wrong, he said.

Picking Newark, Kean said, "would show imagination, it would show goodwill, it would show a real belief in what you can do in this country to improve people's lives, and set an example of a corporation with a conscience, and at the same time a corporation that is willing to transform the lives of a lot of people that have been without hope."